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About Facial Pain

If you or someone you know suffers from facial pain, OHSU’s Facial Pain Program offers hope. Over the past five years, we have successfully treated more than 1,000 adults with the facial nerve disorder called trigeminal neuralgia (TN). We also provide effective treatment for other types of facial pain, including orofacial pain (pain from the jaw muscles and joints).

Trigeminal neuralgia is a chronic (long-term) condition that causes extreme face pain. You can have pain that lasts for days, weeks or months at a time and then disappears for months or years. But even if your pain doesn’t last a long time, the intensity can be physically and mentally unbearable.

With TN, you may experience flashes of pain triggered by vibration or contact with the cheek. This can happen when you:

Shave

Put on makeup

Brush your teeth

Eat or talk

Anyone can be affected by trigeminal neuralgia, but it is most common in people older than 50 years of age.

Experts believe a blood vessel pressing on the trigeminal nerve causes trigeminal neuralgia. In some cases, TN may be related to another disorder such as multiple sclerosis (MS).